We’re in the last weeks of summer on the Monterey Peninsula, but a harbinger of autumn blew into my open office window two weeks ago. I heard a little rustling sound against the window frame, and turned around just in time to see a crisp brown leaf from one of the plane trees outside flutter in and settle gently on my desk. Fall is my favorite season, so it provided a "stop and smell the roses" moment in my busy day that made me feel grateful. Given its size, I also felt a certain amount of gratitude that it was a leaf and not an insect!

The end of summer also means Monterey Jazz Festival time, and this year’s event was extra special as MJF celebrated its 50^th anniversary! I had the empty-nester blues as we arrived at the Festival on Friday evening, having just helped our youngest move into his university campus apartment earlier in the day. But some spicy Cajun food on "dirty rice", a cold glass of wine, and the lively sounds of Along Came Betty coming from the outdoor Garden Stage cheered me considerably. We joined a couple who kindly allowed us to join them at a picnic table, and we shared with them memories of festivals past. The gentleman turned out to be a D.J. from San Francisco who hasn’t missed a festival in 30 years! His dad attended the very first MJF! During the first arena show featuring Dave Holland, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter and Eric Harland, we felt an occasional drop of rain, but the music was wonderful and nobody cared! By the time John McLaughlin hit the stage, a steady drizzle was underway and our wool stadium blanket was beginning to smell quite dog-like, so we called it a night.

Luckily, the rest of the weekend was fabulous! Great weather, great music, and great fun! Since we’re not ballgame people, I seized the opportunity to eat my annual hot dog with gloriously unfancy yellow mustard.  We had a good laugh on Saturday afternoon when Los Lobos’ spokesman said something to the effect that the band was thrilled to be standing on the same stage where Jimi Hendrix had performed. "Among others," we giggled. These are not jazz guys, I figured, but they sure mixed it up with Salsa, Zydeco, and Rock ‘n Roll. What will Tim Jackson & Co. come up with next year? They always seem to figure out a way to out do themselves! But we’ll just have to wait for the leaves to turn brown again next year to find out!